A critical negotiation skill in your purchasing negotiations is how you go about preparing your objectives.

I want to share with you 3 key points that we cover in our negotiation skills training courses to consider when you are preparing for your negotiations.

1. What is the absolutely best result for you in this negotiation?

What would a absolutely wonderful agreement (one that you would be delighted to agree to) look like?

We call this your aspiration base - in other words, the level at which you will aspire to close the transaction.

You should remember that it is vital in your negotiation to always ask for a little more than you would like to receive. This means that you must always have an aspiration base that is higher than your desired objective. By asking for a little more than you would like to achieve you enable yourself to make a concession to your counterpart in exchange for a counter concession.

On the upside, you may just get what you regard to be fantastic if you ask for it! Don't fall into the trap of making decisions on behalf of your counterpart by saying to yourself they will never go for that .Take note that I am not advocating that you make extreme requests - extreme requests are very risky and dependent on the cultural context within which you find yourself.

2. What is the absolutely minimum acceptable outcome for you in this negotiation?

At what point will you decide to stop or suspend your negotiation?

If you do not decide on a specific stage at which it will no longer be realistic or attractive for you to close a transaction, then you may become vulnerable to closing a deal that you will not be able to live with. This is vital to do as you could easily become emotionally committed to closing a transaction at all cost because you may think that your individual reputation is at stake.

3. What do you think are the aspirations and minimum acceptable transaction levels for your counterpart?

It is also critical that you think about the aspirations and minimum acceptable deal levels from your counterparts viewpoint. This will never be an exact science but through proper preparation and research of supporting information you may be able to get a good idea of what kind of deal is the standard in your line of business or kind of negotiation.

By considering the aspirations and minimum acceptable deal levels from your counterparts viewpoint, you will be able to identify the agreement range. Being aware of the agreement range or zone of possible agreement (ZOPA) will help you to see if a deal is possible or not.

Most negotiation training courses will teach you that the bargaining range is defined as the area of overlap between your minimum acceptable deal level and the minimum acceptable deal levels of your counterpart.

Remember that most of your success in negotiation is dependent on the quality of your preparation. You should spend at least as much time planning for negotiations as you expect to be busy negotiating. If you expect to be in negotiations for a day, then you should spend at least the same time in preparations.

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